City OKs $25,000 for zoning, master plan

Cheboygan City Council dealt with several topics Tuesday night that led to plenty of discussion amongst council members and some citizens.

By Richard Croftonrichard@cheboygantribune.com

Cheboygan City Council dealt with several topics Tuesday night that led to plenty of discussion amongst council members and some citizens.The first topic of discussion arose when council heard a request from City Manger Dale Stuart about considering a proposal to spend $25,000 on rewriting the city's zoning ordinance and to amend the city's master plan."We need to get these two to mesh with each other," he said when recommending council go with Richard Carlisle of Carlisle/Wortman Associates Inc. of Ann Arbor. "It will be money well spent and it will prepare us when we get requests for development."However, some of the council was questioning the cost and whether both pieces had to be done at the same time."I wanted to do just one," Councilman Michael VanFleet said. Concerns were raised about such a large expenditure."We have a hodgepodge of things going on," Stuart said. "I am trying to get us positioned."Mayor Richard Sangster agreed."Our system is not user-friendly," he said of the city's zoning system on the internet. "Long-term, this is what needs to be done."Councilman Nicholas Couture asked if Carlisle was the only one who could do such work."I have worked with him for 25 years," Stuart said. "I am confident in him."In the end, council ununanimously decided to make the $25,000 investment.Earlier in the meeting, not much discussion was held about the establishment of a committee to discuss the use of city properties. The committee will be composed of Sangster, VanFleet and Councilman Nathan King.When it came time for public comment though, there were some thoughts shared on the issue.Cindy Curtis quoted council part of the U.S. Constitution dealing with the practice of religion."I didn't like the banner that was going to be put up, but they could have put it up," she told council. "We already have laws on how it can look, but I can't see how you can limit content."The committee is being formed after a discussion and decision was made in December in which city council banned all private displays from city properties after the Freedom From Religion Foundation of Madison, Wisconsin, had requested to place an anti-religious banner in the park as a way of getting out their viewpoint to counterbalance the Kiwanis Club Nativity scene. "I don't think government is here to make religious statements," Benjamin Duncan told council. "Citizens have rights to express and make statements, not government."Councilman Winifred Riddle said the city did not have a good plan in place to deal with the request."It was derogatory sign and the only thing left to do was disallow it," she said. "We are being very proactive. We are trying to deal with free speech, but also protect the community."Citizen Fabian LaVigne said the issue is dealing with the freedom of speech and courts have ruled in favor of city parks being allowed to be used for such things."Times are changing. You are not supporting a view, but just approving requests," he told council. "I am expecting council to allow freedom of expression."Concern also was raised by a citizen when council decided to enact another moratorium to ban medical marijuana land uses.Citizen Brad Forrester disagreed on the action."We are going into 18 months of moratoriums, how long can this be done?", he asked council. "You cannot pass ordinances to penalize patients and caregivers."Stuart recommended to council to approve the moratorium because there still was too much confusion between state and federal law."California passed their law in 1996, and it hasn't shaken out yet," Forrester said. "This body can provide the clarity."Council also got a report on its 202011-2012 audit and it came back "clean.""In a snapshot, we have been able to cut costs and maintain services," Sangster said. VanFleet added though that if property taxes continue to decrease, the city may end up going in the wrong direction.Stuart said the council was doing an excellent job and the city is not having to dip in the fund balance for operating expenses.